


Earning Our Freedom

by HoloFan



Category: Hololive, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Virtual Streamer Animated Characters
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars, F/F, I don’t know what to tag this, The Empire is good at brainwashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28952541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoloFan/pseuds/HoloFan
Summary: Takanashi Kiara was an excellent pilot for the Empire, quickly climbing the Imperial Starfighter ranks alongside her long time friend Mori Calliope, a Naval Captain.As the commanders of the Imperial Star Destroyer she is positioned on get more desperate to take out the rebels that are evading them, Kiara’s trust in the cause she is serving and core beliefs about the Empire begin to be tested.
Relationships: Mori Calliope/Takanashi Kiara
Comments: 20
Kudos: 78





	1. Sowing the Seeds of Doubt

Guilt.

Kiara couldn’t stop thinking about if what she did was right. But she had no other choice. She was given a direct order, there was no way she could have disobeyed. It was just a simple bombing run, to stop the rebel group from being able to get away with their supplies.

But with their own imperial troops still in the building?

It was a last second order from the admiral. Kiara shouldn’t have been the one to do it, that should have been their squadron leader, but something must have happened.

There was no one else for the job. Their squadron had been composed of two bombers and ten normal fighters. Kiara and the squadron leader were in the bombers, a strange choice from command, but they were the best pilots in their squadron so the choice made some sense.

It was a simple mission: clear the trenches nearby so ground forces could move in. Once the troops were finally able to breach the target building, Kiara broke off from her bombing runs and had awaited the order to return.

Instead, the order to drop the strongest explosives on the target building had been relayed to her and Kiara had to turn to make another pass, she was far outside the area she would need to be in and made a tight turn. When she was finally over the building, she hesitated for a moment. Her finger was over the switch to drop the bombs, but it didn’t want to press. She had almost missed her chance, but buried concerns at the last second and flipped the switch.

Kiara counted the moments before the bombs landed, any chance of silence as she held her breath was drowned out by the roar of the bomber’s engine. Something important must have been hit because the explosion was much louder than she had anticipated and the shockwave ended up shaking her craft as it passed.

She didn’t bother to swing around to check the aftermath, the order was already issued for them to return. Not that she would have wanted to. Hearing the explosives go off was bad enough, there was no way she could have brought herself to look at the damage knowing some allies had been in there as well.

“Nice work fighters, let’s get back to the ship.” Their squadron leader said over the comms, her normally happy tone was closer to sadness.

There were cheers of victory from the other pilots as they congratulated each other. They were just background noise for the pilot as she followed the rest of the group in formation, deep in her thoughts about the mission.

Exiting the planet’s atmosphere, the squadron made their way to their star destroyer, the Pekodam. As Kiara docked her bomber, she lifted the hatch of the craft and stood up on the suspended walkway. She waited as she looked for a specific person to step out and approached, removing her helmet.

“What happened out there Haato? Were your systems down? You were so much closer to the target, wasn’t that supposed to be your order?” She called to the squadron leader.

The blonde removed her helmet and looked over at Kiara with a frown, “something like that.”

The rest of the pilots gathered and began to head towards the exit when they were stopped by two stormtroopers and a naval lieutenant guarding it.

“Wing Commander Haato and Flight Lieutenant Takanashi, you’ve been requested in the admiral’s office.”

Kiara looked over at her leader, the look on her face said that she already knew what this was about. They were escorted to their destination by the stormtroopers, and moved into the office. The troopers took up guarding positions by the door, flipping some sort of switch on their blasters.

The two starfighter pilots were sat down on the other side of the desk, while they waited for the admiral to arrive. Eventually, Kiara heard the door behind her open as Admiral Usada walked in and sat across the table. The admiral’s long, light blue hair stood out with few white strands, possibly dyed. No one on the ship ever called her out on the very strange hair color and style choice she had, since she was the highest in command and no one was willing to test her rumored ruthlessness. To say that Kiara was nervous was an understatement.

“Haato, I believe you know why you’re here.” Admiral Usada said without emotion as the stormtroopers behind could be heard taking a few steps forward.

The squadron leader seemed to be keeping calm as she hesitantly said, “I know what I refused to do.”

The admiral raised her eyebrow as she placed her elbows on the table, intertwining her fingers. “Not only did you fail to follow an order, but you directly refused to follow it.”

“Admiral, our own troops were still down there, they got caught in the explosion as well.”

“Not many were left, those rebels were holding their position on the inside very well. We were in the middle of calling in a second wave anyways and by the time they got far enough into their fortified building, their transport would have gotten airborne and possibly escaped.”

“But admiral, it was just a transport, our squadron could have taken care of it easily.”

“Is that so? Tell me, have you ever seen this ship?”

The holographic display on the desk flickered to life as the blue light displayed a thorough model of the ship in question. Kiara couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary about it.

Haato spoke up, “It looks just like any other cargo ship you would find around these parts.”

Usada had a slight smirk on her face as she flipped the hologram off. “That, Wing Commander, would be an increasingly notorious rebel craft in this sector, the ENMA. With numerous illegal modifications built into it, this ship specializes, or should I say specialized, in obliterating overconfident pilots like yourself.”

Kiara finally spoke up, “so, a dangerous target has been taken out?”

“That is correct Flight Lieutenant, and it would have escaped if it wasn’t for your swift reaction to the incoming order.”

It didn’t feel right, but Kiara couldn’t help from experiencing a sense of pride in taking out a target like that. The idea of having eliminated a large threat in exchange for a few troops seemed more like a logical tradeoff.

“Now then Haato, let’s cut to the chase. I am placing you under arrest for insubordination, as your actions almost allowed an enemy of the empire to escape. You will be interrogated soon to see if there is more to this story than just refusal to follow orders.”

“What? It was a single order! One that we lost some of our own troops from!” Haato quickly stood out of her chair and Kiara could only watch as the stormtroopers behind lifted their weapons.

“Wait,” Usada said, lifting her hand in the air. Both troopers glanced at each other before lowering their weapons. “The thing is, those troops down there are heroes, the sacrifice of their life has stopped many more from dying at the hands of that ship, and the rebels inside.”

“So why didn’t you bomb the building in the first place? Why send the ground troops in?” Haato slammed her hands down on the desk.

“Our primary objective was to recover what we could from the building as many of the supplies that were in there were stolen imperial goods. Now, let’s say all of those were packed onto the ENMA and it had escaped. Tell me, what would have happened.”

The admiral waited for the blonde to say something, but when she just kept staring, Usada shook her head, “I’ll tell you what would have happened. We would have failed our main mission and let a high priority enemy escape. We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

Usada looked over at Kiara which she quickly straightened herself out and said, “no ma’am.”

“Good. You two, take Haato to the brig. Her current rank is to be ignored until she is questioned.”

“But-“ Haato was barely able to mouth off before the stun shot of one of the troopers had her collapse on the ground.

Kiara held her breath as the troopers worked together to carry the limp blonde out of the room, leaving her and Usada alone.

“I’ll get straight to why I asked you to be brought here.”

Kiara looked at the admiral with confusion, to which Usada shook her head, “no, I didn’t just bring you here to congratulate you on your success.”

“Then, what am I here for?”

“It seems that Haato is no longer fit for her duty of squadron leader, so a position has opened up.”

Kiara’s heart raced, “does that mean-“

“Yes, I am asking you to fill in the role of squadron commander from now on. If you are to accept this deal, you will also be promoted from Flight Lieutenant to Wing Commander.”

“Of course.” Kiara said, almost before Usada finished.

“I expect great things from you, Takanashi.”

“Yes admiral.” Kiara said, bowing as she left.

“Hold on, I’m not finished.”

“Not finished?” Kiara said, turning around to face the admiral.

“Take the next day off, you’ve earned it.”

“Day off?”

“Of course. Take some time to relax before tending to your duties as Wing Commander, I’ll have one of your subordinates fill in for you in the meantime.”

“Thank you admiral.”

Usada nodded as she dismissed Kiara with a wave of her hand. Since she didn’t need to be ready for any missions, Kiara headed back to her living quarters. The pilot had been keeping her head down along the way and accidentally bumped into someone passing by and quickly apologized.

“You should pay more attention to where you’re going, Flight Lieutenant.” A familiar voice said.

Smiling as she locked eyes with the other, Kiara excitedly cooed, “That's Wing Commander to you Captain Mori.”

The pink haired woman raised her eyebrow, “you got promoted?”

“Yeah, and now I have the rest of the day off.” 

“Good for you.” The captain said, attempting to walk away.

“Oh come on Calli. It’s rare that I have time off. You’re free later, right?” Kiara whispered, as she grabbed Calli’s sleeve.

“First of all, I told you not to call me Calli in public.” The captain said as she brushed off where Kiara had grabbed her. “Second, I am, but I do not have time for you specifically to drop by.”

“Oh come on Mori, you don’t have to do this whole routine every time I want to spend time with you.”

The pink haired woman sighed. “Fine. Meet me in my room in three hours. And not half and hour early like last time.”

“I knew you couldn’t resist me.” Kiara winked Calli.

“That’s not-“ rather than continuing, the captain bit her tongue and walked away before the pilot could try to mess with her any more.

Satisfied with the arrangement, Kiara arrived back at her quarters and headed in. She was used to how little space starfighter pilots like herself had in their rooms, as there were four people per room. What it really meant was Kiara didn’t have much room for personal possessions in the space that she had her bed and the small drawers under it. She was used to it, found it better to treasure the few things she had rather than obsess over many smaller things.

Two other pilots in her squadron were already in the room, both female as per the living quarter rules of the Pekodam. Both of her quarter mates waved at her as she walked in, stopping whatever conversation they had been having and turned to her.

“So, what were you called in for Takanashi?” The first one asked.

“The admiral had some things to say about today’s mission.” Kiara said as she began to slip her black pilot suit off.

“You’re taking off your suit? Have you been repositioned?” The other pilot gave her a questioning look.

“No, I’ve been promoted. I’ve been granted the rest of the day off.”

“Oh, congratulations! Does that mean you’ll be leading us from now on?”

“It seems so.” Kiara said, slipping on her imperial issued clothing for the rare times she didn’t need to be ready.

“So… does that mean?” One of them said, looking over to the fourth bed, the pilot it belonged to still missing.

“Yeah. She’s… not going to be back for a bit. Admiral Usada has her in the brig right now, accusing her of insubordination.”

The other shook their head, “How could she refuse to follow an order? The admiral knows exactly what she was doing.”

“I bet she’s a rebel sympathizer and just blew her own cover to try to save some of them.” The other gasped.

“Maybe Haato was an undercover rebel the whole time, and she’s been acting like one of us to blend in.”

Kiara looked at the two with confusion, then felt a rising anger in her as she snapped, “How can you accuse someone like her of something so traitorous?”

Both of the other pilots looked at each other and then back to Kiara, “No one refuses to follow an order, that’s just something you don’t do. We all know that insubordination is not a light offense. You should know that well Takanashi, you probably got that promotion today because of the admiral’s great tactical plans.”

Kiara looked at the two in disbelief, things were just feeling wrong. “But to label her as one of those terrorists, after all she has done for us, missions she’s led us through?”

One of the pilots crossed their arms, “That’s what they do Takanashi. They’re extremists that are willing to do anything to complete their mission. Anything to hurt the empire. Including making you think they’re your friend. Then suddenly, you’ve got a laser blast in the back of your head from this supposed friend.”

The other pilot shook her head, “Admiral Usada knows exactly what she’s doing. I bet she’s been onto Haato this whole time, and what happened today was the hard evidence she needed to convict her.”

“I can’t believe you two,” Kiara said, slipping the last part of her outfit on.

“You’d better change your attitude, or they might think you’re colluding with Haato.”

Having had enough of this, Kiara snarled at the two, “I wouldn’t think you two would be good at making judgements, considering you’ve been pilots for as long as I have and haven’t even come near a promotion. Maybe that’s why you’re stuck all the way at the bottom.”

“Woah, you better watch what you’re saying Takanashi.” One of the pilots took a few steps closer.

“What? You wanna fight? Maybe threaten me? Go ahead, I’m sure the admiral would love to hear that two pilots threatened their Wing Commander.”

“Oh, we got a tough girl here. Yeah keep hiding behind that rank of yours, that’s all you got.” The other stood up, both had gotten rather close to Kiara and it had turned into a staring match.

“You know why I get promoted, not because I kiss ass like you two, but because I have actual skill. There’s a reason why I was the one flying the bomber today: you two would have missed and bombed the wrong side.”

“You wanna have a dogfight, you against us? We’ll show you!”

“I’m sure you will,” Kiara said as she walked out the door.

No matter how hard she tried to forget about it, nothing about what they had said felt right to her.

* * *

Kiara knocked on the door and a “come in” was heard from behind it.

Stepping into Calli’s quarters Kiara did the same thing she always did, look around the room in awe at the space she had. The room seemed bigger to her each visit, but it was just as plain as always, as Mori wasn’t one to collect random junk like some of the crew.

“Hey Calli,” Kiara called as she made her way to the center of the room.

The pink haired captain had been sitting at her desk and quickly minimized some sort of projection as the pilot had gone around the corner.

“You actually waited for the time I said,” Calli noted, getting up from her chair.

“Just for you,” Kiara winked as she flopped back off the Captain’s bed.

“Hey! I’ve told you not to do that.”

“Oh come on, you better get used to me being on your bed because we’ll be sharing it eventually.”

“We are not-“ Calli groaned as she put her hand to her forehead. “Just don’t make a mess of the sheets like you did last time.”

“So, are you preparing for a mission? You don’t normally hide a hologram that quickly from me.” The pilot cooed.

“What I was looking at is classified, you aren’t allowed to know.”

“So it is a mission?”

“Why are you extra pushy today?”

“What do you mean?”

“Something seems… I don’t know… different?”

Sighing Kiara sat up on the bed, “I’ve…. just been thinking a lot.”

“That’s rare.”

Kiara made a pouting face at Calli, “take me seriously, please.”

“That’s… even rarer. Fine. What’s bothering you?”

“It’s about today’s raid on the rebel fort.”

Calli groaned and shook her head, “don’t get me started on that.”

“Something about it bothering you too?”

The captain nodded, “Usada made a choice today that I couldn’t agree with, but I had to sit back and watch as we paid the price for it.”

Having a feeling she knew what this pertained to, Kiara swallowed nervously as she asked, “w-what did she ask?”

“You might know who got the order, it was the decision to bomb the building with the explosives that were already in it. I don’t know who was sent the order since it was relayed by a higher naval officer than me, but we still had a third of our first wave troops in there.”

Kiara felt a pit in her stomach as she could only stare down at her hands, the ones that had flipped the switch.

“Kiara, what’s wrong?” The pilot felt a hand on her back, something that was extremely rare from Calli, but she couldn’t bring herself to react to it.

“Y-you said a third?”

“Yeah, a third. Kiara, what’s wrong?”

“H-how many were in the first wave?”

“About a hundred and fifty, why do you need to know thi-“ Calli stopped as Kiara felt the hand pull off of her. “You were the one the order was given to, weren’t you?”

The pilot couldn’t respond, she just nodded her head as she buried her face in her hands. She felt multiple things then, guilt, sadness, grief. She finally realized that the whole truth hadn’t been revealed to her. She couldn’t fathom why Usada would downplay a loss of fifty troops like that. Was her promotion just to keep her from thinking more about it?

Kiara then felt an arm wrap around her as Calli leaned against her.

“Kiara, I’m so sorry.”

“Why?”

“Hm?”

“Why would she make a call like that?”

“She… was obsessed with that damn ship they were loading up.”

Kiara took a deep breath as she let the tears stop flowing. She hated that she had been the one to throw away so many lives, and now wished to have made the same choice as Haato.

“Kiara…”

“Calli, do you… ever have doubts about the Empire?”

The captain gave her a concerned look, “are you thinking of defecting?”

“No, of course not. It’s just… I didn’t sign up to serve for the empire to kill our own allies. We’ve both served for long enough that we might be able to resign in the near future. Maybe go find a planet to live the rest of our lives, finally be free.”

“You say that like we’re a couple.”

“Of course, my future wife.”

Rather than say any words of denial, Calli leaned in closer. A soft smile was on her face, which was a very rare sight for Kiara.

“Well, the best chance of that would be in about two years, hopefully things will have died down by then and the Empire will no longer require our service.”

“Promise you’ll come with me if we do?”

“I promise, but that’s just because it’ll give me an excuse to retire.” Calli whispered. “Isn’t there anything you’d miss?”

Kiara smiled, “If there’s anything I’ll miss from this, it’ll be piloting.”

Calli chuckled a little, “Kiara, you were born to fly. Of course you’ll miss it.”

“And what about you?”

“I mean, there’s not much that I’d miss here. Maybe the feeling of having a good position. Not like much has ever connected with me.”

“There was music.”

“That was a long time ago, and besides, I’d probably be stuck playing in some cantina somewhere with how music is nowadays.”

“Nah, you’d be galaxy famous.”

“Sure, whatever.” Calli sighed.

Kiara laughed a little. “I kinda wish you were in the same branch as me.”

“Think of it this way, if you screw up your starfighter duties, I’ll have some leverage over your punishment.”

“Ooh, you get to punish me?” The pilot said in a very suggestive tone.

“Guh. Not like that!” Calli scowled at Kiara.

They both laughed for a moment before a beep was heard from the Calli’s desk.

“I’ll go, I’m guessing that’s important.” Kiara abruptly sat up and made her way to the door.

The captain just loosely waved her hand as she sat down at her desk. Waiting for Kiara to leave the room.


	2. Secrets and Spies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the feedback on the previous chapter. I am of course continuing this story, and have figured out how I want most of it to go.
> 
> Of course, comments on what you think would still be appreciated.

Kiara was resting in her bed when the door opened and a familiar figure walked in. Haato, still in her pilot outfit, made her way to her bed and sat down on it. The two were the only ones in the room, which gave Kiara the chance to talk to Haato.

“They finally let you go?” Kiara hadn’t seen the blonde in days, and was worried that her other quarter mates might have been right.

Haato’s response was quite strange, she had an almost permanent grin on her face and spoke differently than normal, “of course, I learned my lesson not to disobey an order.”

Kiara gave a confused look to the pilot. “What did they do to you in there?”

The blonde hummed, “they tried to interrogate me.”

“Interrogate you for what?”

“If I was the rebel spy.” Haato began to laugh in a strange manner, “there’s a spy somewhere on board.”

Beginning to worry about her friend, Kiara moved to the edge of her bed. “Are you… drugged?”

“Oh yes, very much. I also haven’t slept for three days!”

Standing up, the orange haired pilot walked over to Haato and stood in front of her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Better than ever.” The pilot winked, “They still can’t find her.”

“Find who?”

“The spy!”

“Why did you say ‘her?’”

Looking around before leaning closer, Haato whispered, “they can’t find Haachama.”

Then, the pilot broke out into a fit of laughter, and Kiara nervously laughed along with her.

“How strong was whatever they gave you?”

“I don’t know, but I'm still not quite sure how many fingers I have. I think they may have taken off some… or added one.” The blonde kept looking at her fingers as she waved them around.

Kiara then pushed Haato back so that she was forced to lie down, “you definitely need rest, try to sleep off the drugs for now, hopefully you'll get back to normal after.”

“Then I can get back to piloting?” The blonde said with a large grin on her face.

Hesitantly, Kiara said, “probably.”

Once Haato closed her eyes, Kiara quickly made her way out of the room, heading down the halls of the star destroyer and up the elevator until she arrived at Calli’s office. The pilot knocked loudly on the door a few times, until she was told to come in. The room was a smaller version of Usada's office, just enough for the Captain’s duties, a space that Kiara usually liked to admire, but she didn’t have the time for that. 

As Calli looked up to see who her visitor was, her face contorted into a look of surprise upon seeing Kiara marching up to her.

“Do you need something?”

“Yeah, I’d like to know what they did to Haato.”

Calli sighed deeply and set down the tablet she was holding, as she muttered to herself, “I told them that sending her back so early wasn’t a good idea.”

“So you had a part in this?” Kiara asserted.

“If you’re talking about her current state, no. The interrogation itself was carried out by an Internal Affairs officer. I only visited her once they were done interrogating, mostly to see if she was ready to return to service. ”

“She clearly isn’t!”

“I know. I suggested that they waited longer until they let her go, but it seems they weren’t good at listening.” The captain paused, “how bad is she right now?”

“She won’t stop talking about a rebel spy and is spouting incoherent nonsense!”

Calli’s eyes widened, “she’s already saying that?”

“Yes she is- wait a moment!” Kiara narrowed her eyes, “there’s a spy on board and you didn’t tell me?”

The pink haired woman pulled at the collar of her uniform, “well, it’s not necessarily a spy.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s…” The captain sighed as she realized that there was no point in keeping whatever she was hiding a secret from Kiara. “It’s a long range transmission we keep picking up. It’s originating from different places in the ship, so we haven’t been able to locate the primary suspect. The audio from it is completely jumbled when we pick it up, and we can only fix the signal enough to pick up a few words each time.”

“So has it said anything important?”

“Well… not really, we just began to pick up on a trend in them. This has been going on for about two months now and most of the time one of the words we can make out is ‘Haachama.’ What it means, we still don’t know, although the Admiral suspected it to be some sort of codename.”

“So, someone’s sending out transmissions under a codename?”

Calli nodded, “that’s one theory.”

“So why haven’t you been investigating people or actively looking for the source?”

“We still don’t know what it is we’re looking for, and having rumors spread that there is a rebel spy on board would cause nothing but chaos.”

“So Haato was the main suspect?” Kiara finally sat down in a chair to listen.

“It's an obvious connection; Haato and Haachama. At first we were thinking that she may have just been extremely stupid to use such a similar codename, and that she had just been relying on the chance that she wouldn’t get caught. We’ve had our suspicions about her for a bit, but now the upper members of the ship are completely divided and in disarray about the whole situation.”

“But why? You said that there’s still not enough proof of what it is.”

Cali groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose, “that’s the exact problem Kiara, the higher command is extremely divided because of that lack of certainty. Some believe that it’s a false alarm, a few still think it may be her, and some are now discussing that someone may be trying to set her up.”

“So… what do you think?” Kiara leaned closer keeping a straight face.

“Honestly, I don’t really believe it at this point. Whether it’s a malfunction in the system or something else, I don’t think Haato has anything to do with it.”

Kiara didn’t respond, instead she was thinking about the whole situation, still not sure what to make of it.

“Please keep an eye on her for now if you can. She has a mental evaluation scheduled for tomorrow once she gets sleep and the truth serum out of her system.”

“Mental examination?”

“Just… take whatever she has said lightly. From the little information I’ve been told from the interrogation, she had been kept up for a few days before they gave her the injection. From there, she had some sort of mental breakdown and they got no useful information out of her.”

“Mental breakdown?” Kiara gave a face of disbelief.

Calli shook her head, “Kiara I-“

The captain was cut off when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.” The pink haired woman said.

The door opened and Admiral Usada stepped through, causing both women to stand up abruptly.

“I wasn’t aware that you were coming this early.” The pink haired captain said.

“Then I must apologize for the intrusion Captain Mori, but I have an important matter to discuss with you.”

Calli nodded as she turned to Kiara, “Takanashi and I were just finishing up here, you’re free to go.”

Giving the captain a glare at their unfinished conversation, Kiara began to walk away when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Not so fast Wing Commander, this conversation involves you too.”

“It- it does?” The pilot stuttered.

“Why yes, because from what I heard from outside the door, it seems you’ve already been caught up in the situation.” The Admiral shot a glance over towards Mori, who’s normally emotionless appearance began to show a hint of fear.

“We can have a talk on who we are supposed to trust information to a little later, for now, let us discuss the problem at hand.”

The Admiral sat down at the other chair, as she motioned for the other two women to sit as well.

“Wing Commander, about how long ago would you say you saw Haato?”

“About... fifteen minutes.” Kiara almost couldn’t get the words out with the anxiety from the Admiral’s sudden visit.

“Interesting.”

“Admiral, has something happened?” Calli questioned.

“Why yes, Captain, something has happened.” Usada pressed something on her tablet and a diagram of the ship popped up the desk’s hologram display. “About ten minutes ago, we picked up on another transmission, and unless Haato could have made it all the way across the ship, make a transmission, and return to her room, circumstances have changed.”

“Is there anything different about this transmission?” Calli asked, making split second glances towards Kiara

“Before I say anything, I’d like to ask Takanashi about Haato’s current state upon returning.”

Rubbing the back of her head, Kiara spoke, “Her current state? She was a complete mess, speaking differently than normal and not making sense at times.” 

The Admiral shook her head. “Well then, it seems we have a problem because the voice was much clearer than normal, and it was speaking in some sort of different code. We’re currently deciphering this code, but whoever was speaking it was saying their phrases very clearly.”

“So, you’re saying it isn’t her?” Kiara raised her eyebrow and glanced between the two other women.

Calli spoke up first “It seems-“

“Not so fast Mori, despite what you may believe, Haato is still a prime suspect. That is why Takanashi is being assigned to keep a close eye on her.”

“I am?”

“Of course, you’re her Wing Commander and she’s been demoted to a Flight Lieutenant for now. She is to follow all of your orders when piloting, and if she doesn’t...” Usada leaned in close to Kiara, keeping her unnerving, emotionless look as she did. “...shoot her down. Without hesitation.”

Kiara froze as she felt a tight feeling in her throat. Through her discomfort, she croaked, “shoot her down?”

“Those are your private orders. If she attempts anything during a mission that is outside of what she was ordered to, shoot her down.”

Kiara swallowed nervously as she looked over to Calli, hoping for the Captain to say something, but she remained silent.

Usada cast a quick glimpse aside before moving in closer, “and let me be clear Takanashi; if you are to fail and Haato ends up costing us a victory or actively helps any enemies of the empire…” The admiral shifted positions so she could whisper in Kiara’s ear, “the consequences will be severe.”

Kiara's eyes widened as she watched Usada get up. The Admiral nodded to Calli as she left the room. The pilot hadn’t noticed how quick her breaths had gotten as she put her hand over her chest to feel how quickly her heart was beating. Looking to Calli, she watched as the captain turned off the holographic display and sat back in her chair, seemingly deep in her own thoughts at the moment.

After a prolonged silence it was Calli who spoke up, “well, just keep an eye on Haato and you’ll be fine, if she is mentally ready for her duties that is.”

“If you say so.” Kiara muttered.

“You should get back to your quarters, your squadron will be called back sometime later.”

“Is something happening, are we being deployed somewhere?”

Calli shook her head, “I think I’ve done enough divulging private information to you for now.”

Thinking about Usada's entrance, Kiara dropped her head as she sighed, “yeah.”

As she reached the door, the pilot looked back to see Calli was not paying any attention to her, and instead was already staring down at her tablet.

* * *

Having a slight bit of time before her squadron was supposed to attend a meeting, Kiara decided to try to get some extra rest in her bed. When she arrived back at the room Haato was still asleep and one of her two other quarter mates had returned and was sitting on their bed while reading something, so she silently got into bed and pulled the sheet over her.

No matter what she did, she couldn’t fall asleep. The problem was that the pilot couldn’t clear her mind with everything that had been happening. She didn’t know what to think or feel anymore, especially the fact that Haato, who she considered a friend, was being heavily monitored to make sure she wasn’t colluding with terrorists.

Kiara eventually sat up and her mind began buzzing with many different emotions and ideas. Suddenly, a strange sensation came over her. At first she couldn’t even tell what it was, but each second passed made the strange feeling clearer. She couldn’t fully grasp it, but she felt rage. It wasn’t her rage though. It was like she was feeling someone else’s rage, and it was getting stronger.

When the feeling was at its strongest point, her missing roommate barged in the door and began marching over towards Kiara.

“You seriously reported me to Usada?” The angrily growled.

Kiara remained frozen for a moment as she was unnerved by the sudden disappearance of the sensation she was just feeling, but quickly shook it off as she huffed, “why would I do that?”

“Then why was I called into the admiral’s office and given a lecture on how important it is to follow your orders?”

Kiara gave the pilot a confused look. “I don’t know, maybe she thought you aren’t good at following orders. If I had reported you, that conversation would have been about respecting your superiors.”

“Well first of all, I am good at following orders-“

The pilot was cut off by their friend chuckling from the other side of the room.

“Oh, so you’re on her side now?”

“Well, she isn’t wrong. You follow orders, but you sure aren’t the best at it.”

The pilot grumbled as they turned back to Kiara, “well whatever it was, it was some good damn timing considering what happened a few days ago.”

“Then just wait for a bit, maybe there’s a reason why she talked to you specifically.” Kiara was about to ignore them when she suddenly thought of something. “Wait. If I had reported you, why were you the only one summoned? You both were talking back to me.” Kiara motioned to the other roommate.

“Well…” the pilot tried to think of an excuse, but couldn’t and muttered something under their breath as they made their way back to their own bed.

Kiara shook her head as she sighed. Her mind was still buzzing with activity, so she found herself looking over at Haato and hoping she was okay.


	3. Crashing Down

Slowly, Kiara raised the TIE fighter until it docked with the light cruiser. One of two pilots that were transferred to the cruiser, she had mixed feelings about the sudden assignment. While she hated being on missions with the smaller vessel due to it almost always being involved with patrols or supply runs for the Pekodam, she didn’t quite mind this outcome in particular since Calli was posted as the head of the mission. It was to be a group of two cruisers, with the other one having another three members of Kiara’s squadron on board.

The inside of the large ship was just as bland and grey as the star destroyer, which let her pretend she was still on the larger ship. The only upside was that she had slightly more room in her quarters since the specific type of cruiser she had been assigned to could only hold three ships at a time. While no reason had been given yet, only two pilots were assigned to the craft, although Kiara figured it would make sense within time. The pilot had been given some time of leisure while the vessel made its final preparations for its journey, so she stored the few things she had in the space under her bed then tried to get some extra rest.

She was eventually awoken to the sound of shuffling around in the room, which she sat up to find Haato situated herself on the tiger side of the room.

The blonde noticed Kiara had awoken and quickly turned to apologize for waking her.

Tiredly, Kiara rubbed her eyes while she yawned, “no, it’s fine, I needed to get up anyways.”

Haato gave a relieved look as she sat down on her own bed without saying another word. The situation though seemed strange to Kiara though, so she questioned, “I haven’t seen you in a few days, I take it you turned out fine?”

The blonde returned a soft smile as she spoke, “according to the medical examiner, I was fit to return to duty.” She paused as she blankly stared forward. After a momentary silence she looked back over, “I hope I didn’t say anything out of line to you recently. It seems I’ve lost my memory of the past few days.”

Kiara gave a concerned look over at the blonde and stood up to walk over, “of course not, anything you said to me was just random thoughts about your investigation.”

Haato tubbed the back of her head as she shyly asked, “umm… what exactly did I tell you?”

Kiara sat down next to the other pilot. “Honestly, you were just saying nonsense about the transmissions that command has been picking up.”

Frowning, a deep sigh came from Haato as she hung her head. Seeing this Kiara whispered to her, “I know it might be tough with some of the officers accusing you of what they are, but I guarantee this will all sort itself out.”

The blonde remained silent, and Kiara reassuringly put a hand on her shoulder, “whatever happens, I’ll be there for you and help you. No matter what.”

“Thanks.” Haato whispered, barely audible to the pilot.

Kiara wanted nothing more than to know how the blonde felt in that moment, to understand the possible pain she was feeling so that she could help her. As she kept her hand on Haato’s shoulder her brain began to be clouded with thoughts over the past week, until a strange feeling began to flow through her.

It was much like the once she had experienced before her quarter mates had bathed into the room, a feeling of connection. Kiara closed her eyes as she let the feeling strengthen and suddenly felt like she had connected with Haato. It was only for a brief moment, but like the last time, she suddenly felt feelings and emotions that weren’t hers. She wanted to believe that her mind was just making up the feeling, but her body… no, something else was screaming that it was real.

So, Kiara let the connection continue. Focusing in on the connection, she expected to feel Haato’s pain and sorrow, possibly even fear, but there was none. Instead, Kiara felt pride, a rush of adrenaline, excitement, and a small bit of sorrow underneath. Confused at the emotions she was receiving, her focus began to break and she had to quickly pull her hand away from Haato as she tried to comprehend what had happened.

The blonde quickly looked over at Kiara with surprise as she apologized, “I’m sorry did I do something to make you jump?”

Kiara shook her head to recollect her thoughts as she put her hand down. “No, sorry that was my fault. I had a sudden chill that took me by surprise.”

“That doesn’t sound good, are you sick?”

“No, I’m fine. I think I just need more sleep.” Kiara lied as she headed back to her own bed to think about what had just happened, and to get the extra rest she needed.

* * *

Stepping into the office with Haato, Kiara and the blonde were asked to sit. On the other side of the desk Calli had her back turned to the two and was staring out the window at the planet below, “I expect you two to listen to everything I have to say with no interruptions or questions, got it?”

The two pilots nodded their heads.

Seeing their response in the reflection of the window, Calli spoke, “Good. This is one of the first missions I will be leading, so I need everything to go correctly.”

The captain turned and sat down. “While we are receiving some important supplies from the planet below, you two will need to be ready to mobilize. We are expecting a visitor who will be bringing something for us. Your job will be to escort them to the cruiser until they dock. We just need to make sure that this is the right person that will be meeting us.”

Kiara began to speak, “Who-“

“I said no questions, got it?” Calli interrupted the pilot and waited for her to roll her eyes to continue. “While they have fulfilled jobs for Usada multiple times so far, they are a bounty hunter, so they are not to be immediately trusted. Once they exit their craft, you two will exit yours as well and meet at the primary docking port with the rest of us.”

“Once our exchange is done, you will escort them back to their jump point. It’s quite a simple job, but now I will allow any questions you may have.”

Haato was the first to speak up. “What exactly are they delivering to us, or, since this is a bounty hunter, who are they delivering.”

“That is none of your concern. You will get to see them at the time of the transfer and that is all the interaction that most of us will have with the target, understood?”

Kiara, questioned next, “why are we even getting out of our ships, why not have us wait?”

“In case negationations get messy, I want at least one of you to be on standby to get ready to take control of their ship, either to stop them from escaping, or to get that craft out of our docking bay as quickly as possible.” Calli looked over to Haato, “you’ll stay in your starfighter, Takanashi will get out to meet with us.”

The blonde nodded as Calli dismissed the two pilots. Haato quickly left, but Kiara stayed put. The captain had pulled out her data pad, but looked up to see the orange haired pilot hadn’t left and huffed, “did you need something?”

“Have there been any of those strange transmissions while onboard this ship?”

Calli pinched the bridge of her nose, “why would you need to know that? Don’t waste your time probing Haato to see if some of the crew’s crazy conspiracies are true, the woman’s clearly already suffering from it.”

Kiara nodded in understanding as she got up, although her recent experience gnawed away at her, leaving her indecisive on what to believe.

* * *

Leading Haato toward the designated coordinates, the bounty hunter’s ship warped in from hyperspace and began cruising towards the two. Clearly a modified charge ship, Kiara prepared herself for the possibility of a dogfight with the vessel. The extended radio silence didn’t help to alleviate her anxiety about the encounter, as the gap between the bouncer hunter and the two pilots was ever shrinking.

Very close to being a dangerous situation, the light cruiser radioed in the all clear and Kiara instructed Haato to follow in formation as they escorted the ship towards the cruiser, following just barely behind the target. As it began to dock in the primary port the two pilots connected their own ships, and Kiara quickly moved to the spot they were supposed to meet.

As she arrived the conversation was already somewhat heated.

These were two stormtroopers standing idly nearby as the bounty hunter huffed with her arms crossed. She was a unique sight for a bouncer hunter, with her light blue hair together with her grey, battle-worn armor. Whatever she wanted, she clearly wasn’t satisfied yet.

“Open the case so I can ensure that your payment is genuine.”

Calli was the one holding the case in question, standing beside a woman that Kiara had never seen before. The woman had no indication of what her position in the empire was, only having some sort of black suit. Her light purple hair faded to green at the end, making a strange combination that Kiara didn’t see being anyone important in the Empire. Calli cast a glance aside to the woman before opening the case to show its contents.

Kiara almost couldn’t keep her mouth closed upon seeing the amount of credits inside, which immediately made her question just how important this target was.

“Does that satisfy you Hoshimachi?” Calli asked.

With a grunt, the Hoshimachi looked down at some sort of cylinder strapped to the purple haired woman’s side before pressing a button on a wrist remote she was wearing, causing a platform to rise out of the docking port, carrying the target on it. Intrigue filled Kiara as she examined the overly handcuffed woman on the lift. She was just as strange looking as everyone else present with long, dark purple hair ending in almost solid formations of orange. She was wearing handcuffs that covered everything from her wrists to her hands, as well as a blindfold, although the blindfold didn’t seem to be part of the bounty hunter’s technology.

“Hand over the case first.” The bounty hunter said, grabbing the handcuffed woman and placing her in front, almost as a shield.

The rest of the conversation was tuned out by Kiara as she began to notice that the prisoner was looking straight at her. The pilot had been standing on the side, but the woman’s head was turned to the side to look directly at her, even though she had the blindfold. After getting uneasy at the continued stare, Kiara took a few steps to the side and noticed that the woman’s head followed her.

The pilot’s heart rate quickened as she slowly moved side to side to watch as the prisoner’s head followed her. Only heading past how far she could turn her head would get her to stop, and Kiara swallowed nervously as she sat back in place and tuned back into the conversation.

Hoshimachi was steeping away as she stopped and annoyedly growled, “tell your supervisors that next time they hire me for a hunt, to tell me if I’m heading after a jedi.”

The other woman that was with Calli scoffed, “just because one can use the force, it doesn’t mean that they are a jedi, and let me tell you, this target you’ve captured is no jedi.”

The bounty hunter let out an exasperated sigh as she jumped headed back into her ship, leaving Kira to return to hers. As the cargo ship dislodged, the two pilots escorted it back out until it reached its jump point and Kiara let out a sigh of relief that it was finally over.

* * *

After being back in her room for a bit, Kiara was visited by one of the officers of the light cruiser. “You are being requested by Captain Mori to meet in the brig.”

Kiara raised her eyebrow at the order, but didn’t say anything as she got off of her bed to follow the man to a hallway of empty cells. She could see Calli up ahead, standing in front of an occupied cell. As Kiara moved to stand next to Calli, she looked past the light shield to see the prisoner from earlier already staring at her again.

Leaning towards Calli, Kiara whispered, “why did you call me here?”

The captain frustratedly sighed. “You obviously noticed how our friend here seemed to be pretty obsessed with you back there. I wanted to question her on why, but she won’t respond to anything I ask her. You’re my last option to see what she wants.”

“So you did this because you were worried about me, aww how cute.”

“I didn’t do this for you, I-I just need to know why she’s doing what she’s doing.”

“So umm… what do I do?”

“I don’t know, ask her what she wants from you?”

Kiara took a few steps closer as she nervously asked, “is there something you want from me?”

The woman’s face stayed completely neutral as she remained in silence. Kiara looked back at Calli with a confused face until a voice spoke up from in front of her. “Do you feel it?”

Not sure if she should be worried or confused by the question, Kiara asked, “feel what?”

“The flow of the universe, the energy that passes through all of us, that binds us, makes us one.”

“What does that mean?” Kiara confusedly looked at the woman.

“The Force.”

Not understanding anything the woman was saying, she looked back at Calli again, who was now just as visibly confused as she was.

“We are all connected to it, as is its nature, but some are much stronger in their connection.”

Calli stepped forward, angrily pounding on the shield, “what are you trying to say?”

Strangely, the woman continued as though she hadn’t heard the pink haired woman. “Surely you’ve felt it’s influence, as it passes through you, connects you with the universe.”

“What does any of this have to do with me?” Kiara demanded, secretly dreading hearing the answer.

“I cannot explicitly say what is not wanted to be known, but you will come to realize your fate in due time.”

Slightly frightened, Kiara stepped closer to Calli, “what is she, some sort of fate reader?”

“I… don’t know. I wasn’t permitted to know much about what she even is.”

Still staring at Kiara through the blindfold she was swearing, the woman became silent. Kiara was about to ask something else when Calli’s communicator began to radio in.

“Captain, you need to get up here as fast as possible, we picked up an outgoing message, Haachama code. There’s coordinates in it this time.”

Wide eyed Calli nodded to Kiara as the two quickly began running to the nearest elevator, preparing for the possibility for things to go wrong.

* * *

The other three ships formed up to make the squadron of five to protect the two light cruisers. A message had already been sent to the Pekodam and the final supplies were being delivered onto the ships, meaning they could warp out soon if nothing happened.

The squadron began circling in formation around the large ships when two new cruisers warped in, clearly rebel ships.

“Alright Takanashi, lead your squadron defensively, wait for them to make the move.” Command radioed in.

Kiara readied herself as she relayed the order to the rest of the squad and they began making runs in front of the Imperial cruisers. It wasn’t long before a few smaller ships began making a run towards the group, x-wings.

“Alright, everyone be ready, we are going to intercept when they get within firing distance.”

Leading the squadron head on towards the attackers, the dogfight broke out as both sides began to open fire. Quickly one of the five were isolated and was getting shot at, Kiara tried to move in after their teammate, but before she could fire at their pursuer, her squad mate was shot down. “Damn it,” she muttered under her breath as she turned to open fire at the x-wing, positioning herself until her targeting computer guaranteed the shot, avenging her fallen squadmate.

“Group up, focus out fire!” Kiara called, waiting for the rest of the squadron to form up.

The rebel squadron had successfully separated them though, so Kiara cursed as she began chasing a nearby x-wing. The starfighter evaded her for enough time, but she was able to shoot it down.

“I’m hit!” Kiara heard over the radio as another squadmate’s ship exploded.

With three left she frantically tried to radio to the light cruiser, but was met with static. The rebel tactics didn’t make any sense, and she quickly radioed into her squadmates, “they’re jamming our communication with the cruisers.”

Haato called in over the radio, “should we head back.”

Kiara had to take a hard turn to break one off her tail, yelling back, “yes!”

“I’m-“ was all that was heard from the next teammate before they were gone.

The rebels were completely obliterating them and dread filled Kiara as she feared for her life, that she might now make it back from this battle. One was on her tail as she tried to shake them, but she couldn’t. “Haato, I can’t shake this one, you have to help me.”

“On it!” The blonde called back as she heard TIE fighter shots behind her as the x-wing broke off.

A sudden shadow was cast over the fight as a star destroyer appeared overhead, the Pekodam had arrived.

“Let’s pull back!” Kiara called, getting ready to pass the midpoint when she noticed that the other pilot was turning back.

“Haato what are you doing?”

After there was no response, Kiara quickly flipped her starfighter around to see the rebel cruisers retracting their starfighters and were already turning to flee, and Haato was chasing after them.

“Haato what are you doing? Don’t try to be a hero, they’re running.”

The radio became active, but it wasn’t Haato speaking, it was Usada. “Takanashi, shoot down that TIE fighter, NOW!”

“But-“

“DO IT!”

Kiara’s hands began to shake as she throttled the ship to max speed and began to peruse Haato, the circumstances becoming clear as she realized what Haato was doing.

“Don’t do this Haato, you’ll be a traitor to the Empire, you’re throwing away your entire life.”

Kiara finally got close enough to where she could open fire and began to give a few warning shots. In reaction, Haato began to take evasive maneuvers, drawing ever closer to the rebel cruisers, which were ready to escape.

Suddenly she heard through the radio, “Kiara, you don’t understand, you're a good person, so maybe you’ll get it one day, but I can’t do this anymore. Please just let this go, drift away.”

“I trusted you!” Kiara croaked, her shots getting ever closer to the other ship.

Haato spoke through the radio again, this time the emotion could be heard in her voice as she said softly, “please Kiara.”

The targeting computer dinged as the shot was ready, Kiara was about to press the button to fire, shoot the traitor down, complete her mission. Looking down at her thumbs that were hovering over buttons, Kiara’s throat tightened. Time seemed to slow as she looked up the starfighter in front of her realizing what she was about to do to someone she considered a friend. In that moment, her mind cleared as she felt the unexplainable connection again, feeling what the other pilot was feeling. Fear, excitement, hope, despair. So many mixed and contradicting feelings, just like Kiara was experiencing.

In a split second decision, Kiara looked down at her thumbs and let them miss the buttons, turning the craft hard to the side, allowing Haato to dock on the cruiser. Tears began to well under her helmet as she heard one last communication through the radio, “thank you Kiara… I… hope we can meet again one day.”

With that, the rebel ships warped out before they could be trapped or held in a tractor beam by the Pekodam. Through flowing tears, Kiara flew back to the Pekodam, which was already docking the light cruisers. Locking her ship up onto the walkway, she stepped out only to collapse onto the ground. She didn’t know what to think anymore, who to trust, who she was.

Struggling to stand up, she used the rail to head towards the exit, only for it to open and a dark armored trooper to step through, a death trooper. As she arrived at the doorway, she was met with a quick knee in the gut and collapsed on the ground as another trooper arrived and the two began to drag her. She didn’t get the luxury of being stunned, instead she stayed on bare consciousness as she was brought into an elevator then eventually stopping at a cell in the brig, before being harshly tossed in.

Being immobile and stuck looking up at the ceiling, Kiara heard the door open as Usada stood over her. “You have let someone escape who knew a lot more about it then she made it seem like. Honestly, I still don’t understand how she so masterfully orchestrated all of this, but it was because of you that she escaped.” The admiral leaned down close to Kiara’s face. “I’m done with failure around here Takanashi, it’s about time that you were made into an example for others on what we do to traitors.”


	4. A New Acquaintance

Lying almost lifelessly on the single bench in the cell, Kiara had begun to accept whatever fate she was about to meet. Everything had happened so quickly in the end, leading to the pilot feeling completely mentally and physically exhausted. She didn’t understand why Haato had made the choice to defect, she didn’t understand what the blindfolded woman had been talking to her about, she didn’t understand why her single hesitation had led to her implied death sentence, she.. didn’t even know what she was serving for anymore. Their own losses were being seen as great successes if their enemies took an even greater loss, and even small victories for rebels in any form led to harsh punishments.

As she lay in pain from being struck, Kiara couldn’t stop thinking about the future she had hoped for, Calli finally giving into her advances and the two retiring from service together to spend the rest of their lives as the lovers she so desired them to be. She wasn’t stupid though, as she knew what ‘being made an example of’ almost always meant. By the fact that she was still alive let her know that she would be part of a public execution, for everyone to see as they would explain what happens to ‘those who aid the traitorous rebels.’ There would be no trial, no chance of redemption. Ironically, she had traded her own life for Haato’s, which she couldn’t fully say that she had regrets about. Whatever had led the blonde to wanting to join a terroristic organization like that, she had worked for so long to set up her one chance of escape.

She couldn’t get over Haato’s last words. Hoping they would see eachother again? Why? If she had defected to a group of rebels why would she have any care for an imperial pilot? Recollections of the starfighter dogfight kept running through her head, the increasing tension each time one of her squadmates was shot down was so strangely topped off when it seemed the rebel ships left them alone when they were the only two left. Had Haato been communicating with the rebels the entire fight? ‘No’ Kiara thought to herself as she shook her head. She knew the blonde couldn’t have been that coordinated with them. It still nagged at her though, it was like she was the only pilot spared. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the thought that Haato might have asked the rebel squadron to spare her. But why? If she was right and that was true, that would have meant that the blonde had been betting her life, and chance of escape, on Kiara allowing her to.

Deep down, she began to wish that they had just ended her there, like the rest of her squadmates, saving her the humiliation of what was now set out for her. She could almost see it now, she’d be handcuffed and on her knees with an unnamed trooper aiming their blaster to the back of her head, maybe she’d get the honor of Usada herself carrying out the execution. After whatever speech they’d need to make, there would be a momentary flash and then… the end. Her body would lie lifelessly as the onlookers watched. She frowned at thinking of Calli having to see her fall, to know that she would now be alone. ‘At least she’ll be free of me weighing her down,’ Kiara thought to herself as she felt tears beginning to well up. All she wanted was one last chance to see Calli before whatever would happen to her next. To ask her for a kiss and hope the captain would grant her that last request. 

Her time was running short, so she wiped the tears from her eyes and slowly moved her sore body to an upright position. There was a sudden urge to try to clear her mind, to get a few minutes of peace without all of her current chaotic thoughts. Repeating the same process she had done countless times, Kiara crossed her legs as she began to take deep breaths in. It was something that she had learned from Calli when they were first positioned aboard the Pekodam and she was having trouble sleeping or focusing with the various sounds the ship made. The pink haired woman was more intent on keeping distance from Kiara at that point, but had still been kind enough to show the pilot the meditative form that her parents had apparently taught her.

Calli never needed that type of focus, nor was helped by it, but Kiara had found the calming exercise strangely effective. She could never tell why, but whenever she meditated she felt a strange calmness flow through her, as well as heightened senses. Even now, she was able to slip into the serene state, thankful to be able to temporarily forget everything going.

As she continued to slow her breaths, a sudden voice came from somewhere in the room, “is that it?”

Kiara quickly opened her eyes and looked around the room for the voice but couldn’t find where it was originating from. It was a voice that sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite recall who it belonged to and just shook her head as she closed her eyes again to focus.

“I can help you escape.” The voice echoed around the room.

Kiara quickly stood up, demanding “who’s there? Show yourself!”

“I can assure you, I am not currently with you.” The voice responded emotionlessly.

“Then… how are you speaking to me?”

“I connected us the last time we met.” The voice spoke, starting to become quieter.

Kiara then realized why the voice sounded familiar, it was the prisoner that had been handed over to them by the bounty hunter. Stunned at what was happening, Kiara’s brain worked extra slowly as she thought of a response, only being able to come up with a basic question.

“What do you mean?”

“Disregard that for now. If you want my help to get you out, you must listen to what I have to say.” The woman’s voice was getting quieter.

“You’re getting hard to hear.” Kiara said, beginning to worry at how quiet the woman’s words were getting.

“You’re losing your focus you must-” the voice was cut off as it became too quiet to hear, leaving Kiara panicking as she tried to figure out what the woman meant.

The pilot paced around the room for a moment until it donned on her to return to the meditative state Calli taught her, taking deep breaths as she tried to clear her mind again.

“Are you still there?” Kiara asked, hoping for a response.

“You’ve refocused, good. I can help you get out of this place, but you’ll have to help me in return.”

“What makes you think that we could actually make it off of this ship?” Kiara asked, keeping her eyes closed in meditation.

“My connection to the force will allow me to clear a path for us.”

“Well… how will I even be able to get out of my own cell?”

“That’s where you’ll need to follow my instructions. Firstly-” The voice stopped as Kiara’s focus was broken at the sound of her door clicking.

In walked a stormtrooper who had their blaster pointed right at the pilot, yelling “who are you talking to in here?”

Kiara froze as she stared at the trooper that was moving aside to allow space at the door. Behind the trooper, a woman walked in, causing the pilot’s heart to skip a beat. Calli walked in, blaster pistol drawn as she glared at Kiara. The pilot’s throat tightened as she looked at the two blasters aimed at her.

“You’re here a little bit early for the execution.” Kiara said, trying to seem calm but obviously showing her nervousness.

“I said, answer the question!” The trooper screamed, moving in closer.

“I was talking to my-” Kiara was cut off by a sudden flash of blue light as the trooper in front of her collapsed onto the ground, the sign of a stun blast.

The pilot looked up to see Calli’s blaster pistol aimed at where the trooper had been as she glanced sideways to Kiara before sliding it into her waist holster. The captain bent down and dragged the unconscious trooper up against the wall before moving over to shut the door to the cell.

“Calli, what are you-”

“No time, put on the armor.” Calli said, already pulling off the trooper’s helmet.

“Wait, what?” Kiara said, not sure if she should be confused or happy.

“I’m rescuing you. Now get that pilot outfit off.” The captain motioned to Kiara’s black body outfit.

“O-Oh, ok.” Kiara stuttered as she began to pull off the outfit, stripping down to her underwear while occasionally glancing towards Calli to see if the captain liked what she saw. 

The pink haired woman pretended to not see while pulling more pieces of armor off. Calli then handed the trooper underclothing to Kiara who cringed a little at the slightly sweaty clothing, but was willing to wear it if it meant a chance of escaping. Slowly, she slid the pieces on until she was completely hidden beneath the stormtrooper armor.

Kiara laughed a little as she looked over to the other woman, “you’re saving me? I’ll take this as your confession of love.”

“Guh, no it’s not that. I…” Calli paused as she looked at Kiara, “let’s just get going.”

Calli opened the cell door and began to lead Kiara out.

“What’s the plan?” Kiara questioned. “You do have a plan, correct?”

“We are going to board a shuttle in the hangar and use its hyperdrive to escape.”

“Is that what took you so long?”

“Yeah, I’m risking my life with this as well, of course I’m going to have a plan.”

“Wha-“

“Shh. Troopers don’t speak unless spoken to.” Calli hushed as they approached the end of the hallway.

It opened up into the prison overview room and Calli nodded at the worker there, who acknowledged her before heading back to their work. The plan was working so far. The two headed into a nearby elevator as Calli pressed the button, giving Kiara a moment to speak.

“Where are we going after we get onto that shuttle?”

“Doesn’t matter, we just need to get out before Usada can shift any serious blame for what happened on my mission, rather than our lost pilots.”

Kiara had to stop herself from continuing when the elevator door opened, as she followed Calli through the maze of halls, making sure to keep the stormtrooper blaster ready to use. They were getting close to the hangar when Kiara heard the radio crackle of the comms in the trooper helmet.

“All troopers: be on alert, we’ve gotten word that a prisoner has escaped, most likely wearing a stolen trooper uniform, question any suspicious individuals when you see them, we are awaiting a further report into what happened.”

“They know I’ve escaped.” Kiara whispered, noticing Calli tense up.

“They weren’t supposed to notice that fast, this might be a problem.”

About a minute more of walking went by until the alarm systems began blaring as the ship’s intercom began to announce, “we are now under lockdown, a potential rebel agent is loose in the ship, escape pods and hanger doors are being locked until the prisoner is found. Use lethal force if necessary.”

Kiara began to panic as she waited for Calli to do something, but the captain was frozen in place. Looking around for any sort of cover, Kiara located a supply closet and quickly began pushing the other woman into it. Once in Kiara took off her helmet as she flipped on the light.

“Calli, this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Kiara. I’m sorry, I was hoping they wouldn’t figure it out that fast. I… don’t know what to do now, while we’re on lockdown, we can’t escape.” Calli sighed, “all because I couldn’t live with myself if I let you die.”

Kiara was surprised to hear those words as she leaned in towards the captain. “Well, if we’re really going to die here, how about one last goodbye kiss?”

Calli leaned in closer as well, whispering, “what if I say yes?”

Kiara froze, unable to comprehend Calli giving in as she muttered incoherent words under her breath. The captain gave her a confused look before pulling back and sighing, “too bad we don’t have any high up friends.”

Kiara nodded in agreement, just as ready to give into their fate until an idea crossed her mind.

“I think I know someone who could help us get out still.”

“Wait, what? Really? How?” Calli began demanding answers.

“It’s crazy, and you won’t believe me, but you have to let me focus if I’m to contact them, okay?”

The captain nodded hesitantly as she watched Kiar sit down into the meditative position she had taught her. The pilot cleared her mind as she spoke, “are you still there?”

“I’m still here,” she heard Calli say, before shushing the captain.

“Are you ready to take up my offer?”

“Yes.”

“Good, have you managed to get out of your cell?”

“Yes, with some help.”

“Then head down to mine, it should be the deepest into the ship possible. I’ll explain to you what to do when you get there.”

Kiara took one last deep breath in as she stood up, hearing Calli stutter from beside, “w-were you talking to yourself?”

“You couldn’t hear her?” Kiara looked at the other woman confusedly.

“What other woman?”

“That prisoner that was delivered to us, she’s somehow communicating with me through… the force, I think she called it.”

Calli gave her a skeptical glance. “And where are we finding this magical acquaintance of yours?”

“Lowest cell possible?”

“Lowest?” Calli asked, going wide eyed when she saw Kiara nod. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What?”

“I don’t even have clearance to access that area.”

“Well, we’ll have to bust our way in.”

“This is a horrible plan, I hope you know.”

“Well do you have any others?”

Calli groaned as she shook her head, giving Kiara a moment along triumph as she slid her helmet back on and the captain led the way back to the elevator. The two glanced at each other as they readied their weapons, waiting for the doors to open, they walked up to the worker who was at the door controls. Behind the door stood the actual cell itself. To the side of it, Kiara noticed two black armored troopers standing on guard, death troopers.

The pilot readied herself as the worker at the desk asked, “can I see your clearance?”

They were met with a quick stun charge as the two women spun around to incapacitate the standing troopers. Kiara’s shot hit, but Calli’s next one missed, giving the trooper a moment of freedom, which they used to radio in some sort of distress rather than retaliate, leading to them being stunned as well.

Calli moved behind the panel and began pressing in on it until the door began opening, revealing the room inside. There was another panel in the middle, although it only had a bright red screen on it, no buttons or keys. Ahead of them was the actual cell itself, tightly secured with strange looking locks.

Kiara sat down as she tried to reconnect with the woman.

“We’re outside your cell.”

“You made it, good. Now all you need to do is open the door.”

Kiara was about to ask how, but a thought occurred to her. “If you can speak to me over a distance, why can’t you get yourself out of your own cell?”

“They’ve given me special restraints. They are meant to block my connection to the force, but my connection that I created with you is able to be upkept.”

“Well… what am I supposed to do, I don’t see any way to unlock the door, unless I just have to touch that panel.”

“I was able to feel the room around me through the force when I was brought in. The panel can only be unlocked through use of the force.”

Frustrated by the repeated talk about the supposed force, Kiara grumbled “what is this force you keep talking about?”

“It is the energy that binds is all. It flows through us and the universe and guides life.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t exactly believe what you are saying.”

“How else do you explain my communication with you?”

Kiara pauses to think of a possible answer before saying, “I… don’t know.”

“Well then, now you must unlock the door.”

“Me? I thought you said it required the force or whatever to open.”

“It does, but you have a stronger connection with the force than the average life form, you just haven’t realized it yet.”

“Are you saying I can use this force you keep talking about?”

“Yes, if properly trained.”

“Trained? Then how am I supposed to get you out?”

“Just listen to my instructions.”

Kiara took a deep breath in as she stood up.

“Place your hand on the panel,” the voice began, “then try to feel into it, see if you can sense its inner mechanism.”

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Focus harder, really feel for what is inside.”

Slowly something was becoming present for Kiara as she reached out for the panel’s mechanism.

“I think I found it.”

“Now, picture yourself holding onto it and rotate your hand right, try to guide the force through yourself to spin the object.”

Slowly Kiara turned her hand, until she heard a click and the door latches began to unseal.

“You unlocked it?” Calli questioned looking on in awe. “How did you even do that? Was there some sort of combination you had to input?”

“No… I used… the force.”

“The force?”

“I don’t know, that’s what she kept calling it.” Kiara pointed towards the now unlocking door.

Once the door finally opened, latches that were clamping down the woman inside unsealed and soon she stepped forward, in a very proper and dignified way.

“Thank you.” She said, not even looking in Kiara’s direction as her blindfold hid the position of her pupils.

“You said you could help us get out, right? Now’s the time to show that.”

“It is my part of our deal.” She slowly nodded, walking forward to the elevator.

Suddenly Kiara’s helmet comms picked up, “we have confirmed that Captain Mori has aided in the prisoner’s escape through security footage and the maximum security prisoner has escaped as well. All troops head to the cell block exit and prepare to use lethal force.”

“They know you’ve helped me Calli, and they’re blocking our exit.”

“That’s not a problem.” The woman hummed, pressing the elevator button.

“I’m sorry, do you plan to just walk out and face down a large amount of our imperial troops?” Calli growled aggressively.

“They will not be a problem for me.”

Kiara and Calli glanced at each other as they followed the woman into the elevator and pressed the button for the main floors. The purple haired woman stood ready at the door, making slow movements as she prepared for whatever she would be doing when the doors opened.

Kiara then felt a hard reach over and grabbed her own and she embarrassedly looked down to see Calli holding her hand and giving a warm smile. If this was where they died, they would do it together.

Eventually, the moment came when the doors parted and lines of troops with their blasters ready were waiting. What happened next left Kiara in complete awe as the woman in front of her shoved her arms forward and the entire hallway of troops was sent flying backwards. The entire wall of defense that was ready to shoot them down was completely decimated as the woman began walking forward.

“What do we need to do to get out?” She asked, still not even showing a hint of emotion in her voice.

Calli and Kiara were still standing in complete awe at the destruction they had just seen before Calli coughed and brought herself back to the moment.

“We need to unlock the hangar doors. I can do it, but we’d be stopped before I could.”

Kiara nodded in agreement and the blindfolded woman contemplating something momentarily before saying, “go do that, I’ll cause a distraction.”

The two nodded as they headed in a spectate direction from the force user, stepping past bodies that were lying on the floor along the way. The two readied themselves outside of the control room as they readied their weapons. Calli gave the signal and the two banged in the room, firing stun rounds at the officers inside. The captain slid a body out of a chair and got to work getting the hangar doors to release. 

Once the protocol was in, the large doors in the floor under the overlook room began to open and a voice was heard over the room’s comms, “control room, what are you doing? We are under lockdown!” It was Usada’s voice. 

There was a growl from Calli as she suddenly switched the setting of her blaster and began decimating the panels and systems of the room.

“Let’s go.” She said, heading down the hallway towards the hanger entrance.

Sounds of destruction were heard in the distance as they met up with the blindfolded woman, who was finishing tossing around some of the backup.

“We’re leaving.” Calli said to her, and the woman began to follow them into the hangar.

They took a few steps into the large room before they came face to face with a new foe, the light purple and green haired woman that attended the blindfolded woman’s capture. She grabbed something from her waist and something clicked as a bright red blade emerged from the object she was holding.

Kiara took a step back in fear while Calli stood defensively in front of her. Their new acquaintance took a step forward, approaching the threat.

“Get to the escape craft.” The woman said.

Calli nodded and began leading Kiara to a specific shuttle.

“W-who was that?” Kiara stuttered.

“Her name’s Moona, and that’s all I can tell you. She works directly for Usada so her orders are unknown to me.”

Stepping into the craft, the two got to work flipping on the systems as Kiara got into the pilot’s chair.

“You can fly this thing, right?” Calli asked, her voice somewhat shaky.

Kiara nodded, the adrenaline of the situation starting to get to her. They were so close to escaping. 

Finally, the ship’s engines began to roar as Calli moved to the hatch at the back and yelled, “we have to go now!”

Kiara glanced back to see electricity arcing from the blindfolded woman’s fingertips, keeping Moona and whatever glowing weapon she had at bay. Backing up slowly, their new acquaintance eventually was close enough to leap onto the ship’s hatch walkway and Kiara immediately began to lift the ship up, hearing sudden fire from behind as blaster shots were hitting the ship’s shield. Accelerating towards the exit of the ship in front of them Calli sat down in the copilot seat.

“Immediately take a hard left when you get out so we can escape the effective area of the tractor beam.”

Kiara nodded as she made a hard turn left and began passing under the ship when green lasers began to zip past them. The pilot began taking evasive maneuvers from the Star Destroyer’s lasers as Cali began to input into the panel of the ship.

“I’m making the hyperspace calculations, hold tight.”

“That’s kind of hard to do right now.” Kiara aggressively commented back, as the shields began losing power from the volley of lasers.

Kiara began taking more aggressive turns to dodge the lasers, growling “it’s now or never!”

The Pekodam was getting into a position where it could reactor bean them, and moments before they could have been caught Calli announced, “got it!”

Immediately, Kiara throttled the hyperdrive controls and the blue tunnel enveloped the ship. The pilot almost immediately passed out from the intensity of what had just happened as she spun her chair around to look at who they had brought along.

“I realized that we don’t even know your name yet.”

The woman tilted her head then looked aside as she said, “my name is Ina’nis.”

Kiara scratched her head then muttered, “that’s not going to be very easy to say each time. How about I call you Ina?”

“That is acceptable.” Ina concurred.

Cali then took a few steps towards the purple haired woman. “Thanks for saving us back there, but I’d like to know what exactly you are. Are you some kind of jedi? The dangerous cult that we all hear stories of?”

“I am not a jedi.”

“Then what are you, and what does Kiara have to do with you?”

Ina was silent for a moment before she slowly began to raise her gloved hands, grasping onto her blindfold as she slowly removed it. The sight behind the cloth mystified Kiara as she saw that Ina had no pupils. The woman’s eyes were just completely white and somewhat disturbed the pilot.

“I am a vessel of the Ancient Sith, you do not have to fear me being a jedi, since they are my enemy as well. Kiara, as you call her, has a strong connection to the force, but requires training. I can give her that training.”

“And what do you get out of training her?” Calli asked suspiciously.

“You know I can ask questions for myself.” Kiara said, causing Calli to scowl at her.

“I will need Kiara’s help in the future, once her skills are more developed, but I will save exactly what I need help with for that time.”

“Okay. I’ll learn how to use this ‘force,’ but figuring out what we are doing now that we’re on the run from the Empire comes first, got it?” The pilot said.

“I can accept those terms.”

Kiara sighed. Things would be different from now on, but she had some hope that they would be for the better.


End file.
